"Doesn't matter now," Lancelot said, stripping off what remained of his clothes, handing the pants to Mordred.They'd be too small, but they were better than nothing.
Once he'd transformed into his serpent form and was in the water, the other two climbed on his back.Then they were off, moving effortlessly down the river, the current doing most of the work.
Where it makes a sharp right turn,Merlin said.We're waiting with everything you need.Nicely done, Dred.
Arthur added,Even if it was stupid and arrogant to insist on fighting her by yourself.
We would have stepped in if necessary,Lancelot replied.It's over, and now only Maleagant is left.
Maleagant and their hostage friends.Galehaut.Bran.Bertilak.He had the sinking feeling that slaying Maleagant's rotten sisters had been the easy part.
The bend in the brand new river came up a few minutes later, and instead of following it, Lancelot kept swimming straight, then slithered right up the sharp bank until the land leveled out.Tristan and Mordred slid off his back, and he slowly, agonizingly, shifted back to his human form.
Guinevere was already hard at work helping Mordred, which was good, because they were looking far closer to death than they had just minutes ago.Venom must have gotten into his system after all.
Merlin offered a hand, and hugged him tightly as he stood."Well done, Captain.The three of you were as perfect as we knew you would be."
"Perfect is overgenerous.So the mission was a success?"
"Except for Kinborough getting by our measures, but that worked out for us," Arthur said.
Lancelot nodded wearily, and gratefully accepted the clothes that Elaine brought to him."Thank you.Sorry I'm flashing my bits at everyone."
"They're very nice bits, don't worry about it," Elaine said with exaggerated politeness, making all the others laugh.
"Shut up, you jackanapes," Lancelot groused as he dressed.He sat down to pull on socks and shoes."What about the building?"
"Barely anything left of it, thanks to the firebug.There were so many anti-fire measures in that thing, it was genuinely absurd, but you couldn't tell it from the work Mordred did."
"Damn straight," Mordred said as Arthur helped them to their feet.
They piled into the waiting cars and returned to the house at injudicious speeds.Once they were inside, safe as they could possibly be, Lancelot collapsed on the couch, Dred right beside him.Elaine and Guinevere joined Iseult in the kitchen, and in short order they were bringing over food for everyone and tonics for Lancelot, Tristan, and Dred.
"I didn't do a damn thing," Tristan said.
"You did plenty," Arthur said sternly."You have plenty of cuts, burns, and bruises of your own, in case you didn't notice, and you were the one who hauled these two around like they weighed nothing.Drink, get your strength back.We can spend a few hours resting, but no later than dawn we need to get into the game and finish this once and for all."
"Yes, Your Majesty," everyone chorused.
Arthur wrinkled his nose."Knock it off.Especially since of all of us, I have done the least amount of work."
"You're the leader," Dred said."Your job is to make the hard decisions and boss us around.Lancelot and Merlin might have been the reason we all got to come back for round two, but you were the reason we all came together at all.Our shiny golden king bathed in his own sunlight on coronation day.If it was an interactive, we'd have called it stupid and overwrought."
"I sincerely hate you," Arthur said with a sigh.
Lancelot smiled faintly, because gripe though Arthur might, hewasthe linchpin.The king they believed in, the leader they trusted, the man who would never order someone to do something he wouldn't do himself—and in the fight to the throne, there was very little Arthur had not done, from emptying piss buckets all the way up to leading a battle.When Lancelot had fallen sick, back when it had just been him, Arthur, and Merlin, it was Arthur who had brought him water by the bucket from the well, who had bathed him near-constantly with the coldest water he could manage, changed his bedsheets and helped him relieve himself, kept him alive until Merlin returned with the needed potion.
Arthur was a good leader because he did not fight to fight.He fought with the hope that one day he could lay his sword down for good.That Excalibur and the terrible might of the Knights of the Round Table and Camelot would never again be needed.Excalibur would have spurned a heart of violence.It had chosen Arthur because he had a heart of peace.
Thatwas someone worth following.
"Everyone else get cleaned up, because after you're done, I'm filling that bathtub with water and going the fuck to sleep for as long as I can," Lancelot said.
"Seven hours," Arthur said."In seven hours, we go to war for Camelot.We won't get a third chance.We will rise or we will fall.So enjoy this last breath of freedom, knights and ladies."
"Yes, Your Majesty," they chorused, and this time he did not protest the honorific.
Second Chances
